The Acts of Heroism in Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex”

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Theme
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” is widely read around the world. This is because this play/story involves various characters with personalities innate to almost everybody. “Oedipus Rex” is a story which everybody can relate to, everybody can learn a lesson and everybody share with their siblings and/or offspring.

Heroism is one, among the many, highlights of Oedipus Rex”. In the story, the protagonists are the heroes. But the acts of heroism done by these protagonists are not what is commonly done by the contemporary heroes we know of. Theirs are a bit different. Theirs is a heroic act which only some people may consider heroic.

Theme

Heroism is an attribute that can be achieved once selfishness is removed from one’s personality. This can be an act of helping other people or an act of achieving one goal to ultimately help more people in the end. Another act of heroism is doing even one very simple activity but the result will provide a great impact on the majority.

Heroism in Oedipus Rex is shown in the major characters Oedipus, Iocaste, and Creon. These three are a member of just one family who was blinded with the truth. The story revolves around Oedipus and his search for the cause of the blight on his city finding it to be himself while Iocaste is Oedipus’ wife and mother who was very supportive of Oedipus’ search of the truth until she found out that she was part of that truth when she committed suicide. Creon, on the other hand, is Iocaste’s brother and the one who helps Oedipus find the murderer.

Oedipus did a heroic act when he requested his eyesight to be removed. At first, this may bay sound like a selfish act because he wanted to be blind so that he won’t be seeing the reactions of his people upon knowing that he had married her mother. But there is also one good deed behind this act. His people will then be enlightened of the positive return of committing good deeds and making sure that they are not hurting anybody. It must be noted that Oedipus killed a man without realizing that he was his father. Had he not committed that big mistake, then he would have not committed another mistake of marrying his mother.

Iocaste did her heroic act when she accepted, without batting an eye, the fact that Oedipus is her husband and her son at the same time. It must be noted that Iocaste did not know what transpired between her first husband (Oedipus’s father) and Oedipus. That’s why when she met her second husband, in the person of Oedipus, she had no qualms or malice whatsoever that she was marrying her son, and was committing incest. she is heroic in a way that she tried to compose herself in a way that can be acceptable to many. At the same time, she tried to pacify the emotions of all other people involved so that no commotions will erupt.

Also, she tried her best to communicate with others and inform them of her being unaware of her real relationship with her husband cum son. Her reason for this is for them not to imitate or follow what she had committed.

Creon did a heroic and selfless act of helping his sibling, Iocaste in finding the murderer. He does not have any hidden agenda for doing this. He just wanted to solve the puzzle and finally set out the truth of who killed his sister’s first husband. The result of course is not what everybody had expected. But it had created major changes to almost if not, all members of their “kingdom”.

Conclusion

There is a big difference between a contemporary hero and the “protagonist” hero. A contemporary hero is for everybody… the deeds of a contemporary hero are for a majority of people. A protagonist hero, on the other hand, is just for just one group or society. Like in the form of Oedipus, he is a hero in his kingdom. And he may not be treated the same in other places. Likewise, other people may not see him as a hero because they will then focus on the crime he had committed, and not on the reasons or the incidents before that crime. Nevertheless, another heroic act is born in this story of “Oedipus Rex”.

References

“Oedipus Rex”. 2006. Web.

Sophocles. (1991). “Oedipus Rex” (Dover Thrift Edition”. Dover Publications.

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The Acts of Heroism in Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex”

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